Articles which each employ a lacing system to releasably secure two or more portions of the article in proximity with one another have long required that the user tie together the free end portions of a lace which has been threaded through a plurality of eyelets in respective portions of the article. In footwear, for example, the lace typically is first threaded through eyelets in respective halves of an upper portion of the footwear, and the halves are synched together by pulling upon the free end portions of the threaded lace. Once the halves have been synched together as desired the user ties together the free end portions of the lace to prevent the upper portion halves from spreading apart, thereby securing the footwear to the foot. While alternative configurations are known which do not employ a threaded lace to releasably secure two or more portions of an article together, footwear and other articles which employ such a lacing system remain popular for many reasons, including their ability to firmly and adjustably secure portions of the subject article together.
Unfortunately, many articles which employ one or more laces for these purposes put the user to the inconvenience of having to tie the free end portions of the threaded lace together to maintain a secure fit during use of the article. Often, the free end portions become untied inadvertently, causing the user inconvenience and creating a potentially hazardous condition should the user step upon one of the free end portions while walking or running. Where time is critical, such as for example during athletic competition, the burden of retying the loose free end portions of a shoe lace can prove to be detrimental. To prevent lace from becoming untied during use, multiple knots often are used to tie together the free end portions, which in turn further complicates the process of untying the free end portions and removing the footwear when desired. Moreover, for those who lack the ability or inclination to tie and untie the free end portions of the lace, footwear which incorporates a lace configuration may not be feasible or appealing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,296,669 to Elder, Jr. discloses footwear which does not require the user to tie the free ends of a shoelace. While the configuration disclosed there has certain advantages over other types of laced footwear, the lacing system described requires the use of fixed tabs at the free ends of the shoelace to prevent the free ends from being pulled through the eyelets when the shoelace is pulled by the user. Such fixed tabs do not enable the user to adjust the length of the shoelace without causing damage to the structure which retains the lace within the eyelets. The disclosed locking device further requires the user to employ sufficient dexterity to align the lace along a path formed by the locking device and to press the lace in between prongs which define the path in order to secure the lace in place.
Thus, a need still exists for efficient lacing apparatus which does not depend upon the user to tie and/or untie the free end portions of the lace and yet permits the free ends of the lace to be rigidly yet adjustably connected to one another while providing the advantages of a threaded lace for securing footwear to a foot.